Dappa Dan

Matthews you buffoon...

Cats scoreless for ten minutes at home... Amazing compared to last year.

I was gonna go with "understandable" Mitch Clark, recruit of the year so far.

Love Gilly's rating. I think the OP is about right. Warne second after Bradman. Both were once in a lifetime cricketers. Can't comment on Benaud and Chappel though. Weird. A good top ten.

Jesus Strawberry... that avatar.

What person in their right mind would say no? I think you'd find 18 clubs hassling him. The kid is universally respected, loved, and admired... How many players can you say that of? Superstar. If we somehow got him, we'd suddenly be taken seriously. All with one signature.

We'd be nicking the idea from the yanks, so it would only be fair. We can call it what we like, the design, and the permutations and interest it creates are the good part. I'm a huge follower of NFL, and also MLB a little, and I have to say, now that I know it well, I hate the AFL system. DIvisions and conferences are a great and effective way of squeezing a lot of teams into a national comp. 16 teams is fine in one league. 32 (NFL) is way too many... 18 is right on the edge of being a crowded system. My one dislike of the NFL system is that you basically only play 4 teams from the other conference, and when the season's done, you come to a superbowl between two teams who it's likely have only played each other once in 4 years. Also, the idea that the two best teams in the league could very easily come from one conference, and NOT play in the superbowl/grand final really seems wrong to me. Disagree. The NFL does a number of things WAY better than the AFL. Some of them massively important things too, like the age of drafted players and their research into depression associated with the game, as well as concussion. They've always had a draft, and that's something that's improved the AFL. They have testing before the draft, call it what you like... I hate "americanising" things, and love how our game is different. But we can borrow things from the NFL's professionalism, without sounding like our grandmas when it comes to what these systems are called. I hated Gridiron as much as anyone a few years ago, and now having spent time in the states, in my opinion it really is as big and as good as football gets, outside of Aussie Rules. There are people who actually WANT some of what makes NFL great to be instituted by the AFL. Their opinions count as much as people who resist the american system despite not knowing anything about it. I think it'll be ages before anyone gets keen on the idea, but I reckon if they had the guts to bring it in, people would learn to love it a lot, and wonder why it wasn't brought in ages ago. Particularly if the league wants to add more teams, which it probably does. I particularly like the 4 year rotation. That's great.

I hate/love the 49ers. They weren't supposed to be good last year, and yet, they were... and it was no flash in the pan. They've got the coach no-one saw coming, and a list of talent that suddenly is coing together. My opinion? You're right. They had very late draft picks courtesy of having an amazing year. The picks they took were all, I thought, a vote of confidence in Smith, as well as their defence which was absolutely fantastic last year. I like that they basically mixed it up getting Smith some weapons and some protection... They might not play a lot, but then, do they need to? The only hole in the 49ers really is the QB, and if that's your hole, then wow you're doing well. I like it cos you have all those weapons, and now, if you DO bail on Smith and go for a new QB at some point, it's plug and play with that team around him. Yup. Dead on the money there. But then we said that for last year too. And they put up awful numbers. They're a bit like the dees. Drafted talent upon talent... and much of it hasn't come through. So they drafted again, and now they have all these big picks, and are HOPING they'll come through. At some point, you're right, they will... but when is the only question. It really could be this year. Don't worry though, Seahawks are awful and Cards only a little better. I watched Kolb pretty closely at Philly when he was there, and I never saw what Reid saw in him. They'll never knock off a Harbaugh while Kolb is under centre. Yup. The Browns fascinate me as they seem to get names all over the joint, like Hillis and McCoy. And then lose them, or fail to develop them. They could either be the same old same old, or in two years, they lift their game to maybe threaten to push for 3rd in their division. One thing's for sure, there's no way they're getting past the Steelers, Ravens OR the Bengals all of whom are heavy hitters this coming year. I have heard a lot of people call that a dumb call. And it is. But I can KIND of see the reason behind it. If you went into a draft with the QB core they had, basically ONLY Grossman and Beck, you would probably go into the draft and say, you know what? Screw it... let's just get RG3, and his backup all in one go, instead of stuffing around with some nuff nuff journeyman. It's the most important position in professional sports, so why not up your chances of succeeding there? Of course the reason you don't recruit two is because you can't be training a kid while also training his backup. I get that. But it COULD work. RG3 is going to take punishment, Cousins will probably take some snaps. The reason the logic falls down is that obviously if by some miracle the league gets to see that Cousins is ok, they will have to trade him... when they could have just traded the pick itself for something in next year's draft. It's definitely dumb, but if somehow RG3 fails, and Cousins becomes a star, people will think the Skinnies are geniuses. I'm pumped to watch RG3 play, but only cos I don't think he'll get them to the playoffs in the next 2 seasons. After that though, ouch. As if it's not bad enough going up against Eli and Romo in this conference. Now Vick has a 21 year old taller version of himself he's up against.

Anyone else follow the draft? Pantaloons, your boys did very, very well. Poe is a player who will either boom or bust. My boys took a DT too, one pick after you, so I'll watch Poe and Cox's careers with interest... I can say all I like that Cox was the Eagles first choice, and that may be true, but I would have loved Poe, personally. Obviously Poe is a nose tackle, and Cox is more mobile... both belong in their specific schemes.... but still. Colts did brilliantly, getting Luck and all his mates from College. Bengals did well too, getting receivers. Cowgirls got the best CB. Poor old Seahawks and Browns look like they stuffed it. Having said that, the Browns first pick is going to be pretty damn good...

Yeah, I dunno... SOOO many injuries... Long season though, and as of yesterday we were only a couple of games off the division lead. Amazing 15-13 games against the Braves though, with Haladay pitching no less!

Whichever one does well and gets promoted... They're gonna have a hell of a shock with our next 6 weeks.

Garbage post. Absolutely moronic, thoughtless, blind, emotional piffle. Nobody's making excuses. It's simple football. We say it ALL the time, and sooking knowitalls like you get on and make the same rubbish up. You can go through dozens of forwards who started off with talent and height but don't put weight on until 25+. Goddard, at 5 years, was considered a joke and a waste. Hawkins the same. It's RARE that the J. Browns and Riewoldts pop up and dominate within their first 2-3 years. These aren't excuses, this is just normal rational explanation of aspects of players' careers in a league that allows them to basically be drafted at 17, instead of 21, when they SHOULD be. This is HOW IT WORKS. Jack was ALWAYS going to more likely take five years to develop than 3. I think 2014 is when we start marking him like an adult, because he'll actually BE one then. I would be ropable if the club traded Watts for Cameron because he kicked a few goals and you have a crush on him. Funny that. I think that's all true except skills. The great kicks were ALWAYS great kicks. You can improve the poor ones, but as the saying goes there's two things you'll never fix in footy. The umpiring and the kicking. In any case, have you watched Jack kick the ball at goal or in the field? On both feet he's a STARTLINGLY accurate player. Especially going inside fifty. No-one that height should be able to kick like that. It's a shame everyone wants him as a deep forward. I think only Davey has the pattern recognition and delivery skills to beat him. Maybe Howie too. Trenners is close, Magner, Beamer, Jordie and Jones nowhere near. I think that might be why Neeld played him in the guts. Some silk. Maybe you can't teach it, but it is developed. Watch his tape when he's a kid. It's there. It's just not in him at this age against men that outweigh him in all but maybe 4 positions on the ground. I know a lot of players, granted who weren't AFL players, who were soft as butter, but once they grew into their bodies, relished the contest more than ANYONE. It was like they saved up all the big hits they took and started to take that out on everyone they played against from 25 onwards. I'm talking about anyone 6'1 and taller here. Yes, if you're a Nath Jones, you'll ALWAYS be like that... but Jack can rediscover that hardness... it's in there. I think it's more of a coaching thing than a "teaching" thing. Yeah. Cos a Goddard like winger would really suck to have on our list. We all want a big bustling key forward. Jack was never recruited for that. He was closer to being a Riewoldt type. Someone who runs and runs. That, he will be... and I don't even need to say "at best," cos he's already added some of that engine to his game. Yup. He had a low confidence day where he chose the wrong option... and it showed up a LOT because everyone ELSE played the last game like they thought they were Jordie McKenzie. Even Morton who's easily the softest player on the list. Watts stood out like a sore thumb, and deserved to be dropped. The great thing I like the most about Jack is how immediate his reposnses to pressure have been. When we harped on about lack of touches, suddenly he's getting 25 touch games. When we were pissy with him not taking pack marks, he popped up with a few late in the year. I like that he develops and shows improvements as often as he does. Everyone seems so keen to cram him into a KP forward-sized box. I'm not. I want to watch him develop and when he has the engine he needs, plus the size, he could probably play anywhere on the ground, except KP defender. When they put him in teh engine room early this year, I watched through the gaps in my fingers. But he surprised me at times. He wasn't lost.

I was talking draft at 3/4 time of the Brisbane game. No [censored]. Let's go pace and tall mids. Pendles/Goddard style. We have the in and unders. We have the dual role (Trenners), we need prototypical modern day footballers who'll love the G. One gets the feeling with Viney and Neeld running recruitment, we will not be looking at another Morton situation.

I reckon it's about 50-50 what you've said there. I think some blame has to go to the players, but really the reason the club is suffering is more the AFL than anything. We think we have it tough, consider the NFL which has absurd amounts of money. They still seem to run one of the most even comps in the world. It CAN be done. But the AFL seems intent on making the rich clubs richer. Under that duress, we were always going to be in this situation. That aside though, Morton has been a waste up until this last week in which he had 20-something touches, showed a tiny bit of ticker and everyone's suddenly on his side. He's still entirely sub par. I watched the game with WC supporters, and they thought it was laughable that MFC supporters were positive on Morton. Given his talent, intelligence and skill with long kicking, as well as his time in the game, 20-something touches ONE TIME is not good enough. Not by their standards. Davey is changing the way he plays the game, which is a courageous and humiliating thing to do. I love it. He's stopped niggling at contests and is playing the ball and the man. One day soon he's going to get his rib cage crushed, but I'll love him for it. And the fact he will have had a very good AFL career when he retires some day. Watts had one bad game, but still deserves time and last weekend aside, is making good movements. Your mate in the crowd was a bit off, but not that far. All three aren't producing enough.

OMR!! You were agonising? I totally thought you'd just forgotten. I'm willing to pay more than just IM and DH for SM. I can put more on the table?

Draft week!! Eagles take big cox!!!

Trengove has to have something, surely. He's a confirmed better player than he's showing. Watts is not designed for that kind of footy just yet. Notice that he's a horribly underdeveloped version of the Saints main KP threat. And he had a horrible game too. I think the big [censored] would have had a good game had he not been fishing his skull from inside his rib cage this week. His efforts, second and third, and his ground ball stuff would have made him better than Riewoldt, and would have meant we had more options around the ground rather than relying on Bail and Jones to be our major goalkickers.

The guy still has no upper chest size. What do people expect? The Saints are pretty much all mature. Relax. He's been going ok up until tonight. Still running to good spots. He's just not heavy enough yet. Dropping him might make sense, but at this stage of his career he's better than Tomahawk was. And look at him now.

Yeah, just before the incident he was grimacing and looking at it. He's been a really great pickup I think. I even think if something HAD gone horribly wrong, and he had to wait until next season for his next game, fans would probably be mostly positive on his recruitment. He's kicked 10 goals, and has been invilved in numerous telling plays. He may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but he has absolutely no lack of talent, passion, anger, skill, courage, leadership... If you go on potential, he could quite conceivably be the next Neitz in the side. I've seen enough, and I daresay most would have. Watching it on replay, I can't believe he's still with us, given his head went into his ribcage like a turtle. Did anyone else basolutely LOVE his double tackle on the flank, that was eventually given as a free against? Bad luck, but wow the effort from a ruckman-sized player... If Watts doesn't look at that and think, I wanna be like Mitch, then he never will.

Nup. He's ben playing the game like a 2 year old and getting pushed off the ball for years. Now he IS of the right age to be pushing aside kids... would make no sense to move him on now, or look to drop him. Your point is well made, but there's room for a Jones if he gets the outside support. It's the Mortons and Daveys who need to remember they're good runners... I've been loving Watts in the clinches lately, but even he is a great asset delivering ball into fifty. Horses for courses...

If you like NBA, sure. I freakin' hate the sport. I like basebal a bit, but I just can't get to liking basketball in general. Rather like soccer for me. I'm going to definitely get gamepass this year. We won't get to use it live, if we're being honest, but I like waking up, refusing to watch replays or check news, and then watching it later in my own time.

Yeah. I hate the ND hate on this site. He's still the best we've had in my time. He was never great, but I thought he was good for the club and did what he had to do. The issue isn't as much with MFC, which has expanded and grown yearly... it's with the AFL itself, and the fact it's horribly weighted towards richer bigger clubs. In any 5 year period, usually, Melbourne should have a good crack at it for 2-3 of them on average. Yet the rich clubs liek West Coast have one wooden spoon, then are top 4 quality and now are on top... They can afford the coaches and players... We lose them. It's money.

Behind Rivers certainly. And yeah, it's one of the more fun divisions to follow I reckon. The one thing I hate about following the Birds is the every-year strength of their division. Giants and Cowboys are rarely weak sides. Philly have been ok under Reid, and now the weakest team in the division are getting a taller better Mike Vick... It's not a stretch to say that the Eagles are now more or less the ugly step-children of their division, particularly if Washington get a few early wins. You don't have that problem. I like it. You should think about Foxtel. They get an amazing amount of football. Particularly if you like College, which I don't. As for gamecentre... I didn't get it this last season, but I will now. I used the streaming radio coverage, because the Eagles home commentator is awesome. I think a good net connection is a must for NFL fans, particularly on game day. There's SOOO mch football on each Sunday. ? Awesome upgrade I thought. Peyton is one of the best players the game's ever seen. He and Brady have owned the comp for years. Yeah he's old, but it's the NFL. They're not youth obsessed like we are. They really have it right over there, in that rebuilding doesn't take 5 years. It can take 3 if you do it right, particularly if you draft a decent young QB you can deveop. Tebow was going nowhere. Everyone knows it. And we'll have another team limp into the playoffs on a wildcard. As for Sanchez, 3 years, 41 Mil... That's nothing compared to the big names who are all on 5 years, 70+ mil. Vick is on 100+... And no-one thinks he'l be running that place for more than 3 of those years. Contracts are about as permanent as the weather. I reckon Rex is patching up holes for a season or two... But you can bet if he had a chance to get RG3 or Luck in a draft one year, that would be bye-bye to both Tebow and Sanchez instantly...

Amazing. Love the amount of perfect games and no-nos we've seen in recent years. Phillies off to a very shabby start. under .500 and bottoming their division.

Enlighten us. And yet can't explain what, exactly, it is you see... Fact. He was taken pick 4. Fact. He has been a let down in the first 3rd of his possible football career. Even if he somehow miraculously develops into a solid performer, he'll always have been a let down in the first part of his career. You can talk all you like about what "you see." I'll talk about what I HAVE seen. What I have seen disgusts me as a Melbourne footy club fan. You think he would have lasted 66 matches at Geelong, Hawthorn, West Coast, Collingwood? You see what others don't? Well here's what others "see" that you don't. Your fantasy world, in which talent/potential converts into production, is the reason we suck as a club. Neeld could be the best coach we've had post Northey... And we might never know because this poison runs so deep it might actually take him down with it.